


Rituals

by mymusicalbox



Series: Fluffy asheiji [2]
Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, No Manga Spoilers, anime only fans are safe here, local author writes Eiji having their fears, so it'd be ideal if you read that first, this is in the same universe as the moth fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 01:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16316408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymusicalbox/pseuds/mymusicalbox
Summary: And like every little gesture that started spontaneously, if this were to become a ritual between them, Eiji wouldn’t mind in the slightest.





	Rituals

After the moth incident, the unspoken closeness and love between Ash and Eiji began growing more evident and less unspoken between the two.

 

Ash would still come home late but Eiji would wait for him, awake, lamp on. No moth was flying around their room, hopefully. Their “I’m home” and “welcome” were also there, but followed by a tiny blush on both of their faces. The night of the moth incident had meant something for both of them. Those lingering touches and the night they spent together cuddling in Eiji’s bed wasn’t solely out of the latter’s fear and hatred for moths.

 

Both Eiji and Ash knew that they could have solved the incident without having to be that close to each other but they were anyway. Maybe the moth thing had been kind of like an excuse to ignite all the affection that was laying hidden under their jokes and precious moments together?

 

Eiji hadn’t joked nor bluffed when he said and promised himself that he would stay _forever_ with Ash. He knew that those small moments of living together were fleeting, ephemeral. There wasn’t a place they could stay in most of the time, but it didn’t matter to him. To Eiji, his home was right next to Ash, the person he was truly in love with.

 

Eiji Okumura treasured every morning he had to wake Ash up, dragging him out of bed, sometimes making him fall on the floor with a hard thump. He loved tickling Ash and stifling a soft laughter out of him -even though Ash was quick to fall asleep again-. He loved grabbing his bowl of natto and bringing it straight under Ash’s nose, prompting the American to sneeze and pour the whole dish on Eiji’s face, because that woke Ash up immediately and made him Laugh.

 

He had seen Ash cry countless times, and the first time he did, he swore he didn’t want to see it again. It kept happening, though, and Eiji was always fast to try comforting him if he had the chance.

 

When he heard and saw Ash’s _genuine_ _laugh_ for the first time he was rendered speechless. Hypnotized. He sounded and looked like an angel. At that moment, Eiji became awfully angry at the world and at all the people that made Ash think what he thought of himself. Ash was the most wonderful human being he had ever met. He was broken, sure, he was forced to be this genius gang-leader, but deep inside, he was still Aslan Jade Callenreese, a teenager with too much to offer and so little to enjoy.

 

Eiji decided he would not only protect Ash, but also make him feel happy, _loved._ Just as he had felt the night of the moth. He genuinely felt protected and loved by Ash. He knew that the latter had issues with physical contact, that when they slept together more than one sob escaped his mouth. At that, Eiji couldn’t do anything that to hold Ash tighter, and that would seem to calm him.

 

Their small moments together when Ash had nothing to do were also full of first times.

 

There was one afternoon when Ash received a call from Alex. Apparently, something urgent was going on, so their small chat had to cease.

 

If Eiji was disappointed, he kept it for himself.

 

Ash was nervous and started fumbling all around their apartment, as if looking for something. The first thing he did was bringing himself to the door, examining the keyhole. He then moved and started searching in the kitchen; he moved every chair, even the table. He looked in the pantry, where the food was. The soft sunrays entering the apartment through the half open window made his focused expression truly beautiful, Eiji thought.

 

As Ash’s search in the kitchen was fruitless, he began searching in the living room. He lifted every cushion of the couch, only to find nothing and to mutter an angry _shit._

 

That was when Eiji got a clue of what was happening; the keys. The night before, Eiji had been in his dark room working at some pictures that Ash had ask him to take, and the blond had been there with him. There were also pictures of Ash himself in the camera, since one day Ash told him that he could take pictures of him (one of the happiest days of Eiji’s life). There were pictures of Ash making pancakes for breakfast (breakfast an 13Pm because that was when Ash woke up despite Eiji’s efforts. He had been trying since 10AM.)

 

There were times that instead of taking pictures, he would get close to Ash and tiptoe to see what he was doing. Then he hesitantly prompted himself closer to Ash and hugged his half naked torso from behind when he was cooking.

 

There were times when Ash swatted him away, and Eiji accepted it. However, when Ash accepted his embrace and chuckled, Eiji thought everything could be alright.

 

Whatever, Ash’s keys where in Eiji’s dark room, and he didn’t seem to remember it. As Ash was furious and had already gave up, he didn’t check there.

 

“Haven’t you forgotten anything?” Eiji asked in a teasing demeanor, hiding the keys behind his back. Ash was at the door, ready to cross the threshold, but turn around to Eiji when he heard the Japanese’s words.

 

He didn’t say anything, he just blushed, took a few rushed steps towards Eiji, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and muttered a soft, nervous “ _Ittekimasu”,_ another word that Eiji had taught him -he pronounced it just fine this time-.

 

Before Ash left, Eiji had to quickly answer him.

 

“I meant this, but thanks” He said, and gave him the keys. “ _Itterashai”_ he whispered.

 

They didn’t look at each other, both too flustered to say anything or to even hold their stares.

 

After Ash left, Eiji put his right hand on his right cheek (the one Ash kissed) and stayed where he was, agape, blushing furiously. It wasn’t the first time Ash kissed him; he kissed him full on the mouth on the prison after all, but somehow this felt more of a first kiss than the actual first one they shared.

 

When Ash got home that night, they slept on separate beds, they were both so… embarrassed. But why did a little kiss on the cheek made them both feel so flustered when they had been living like a married couple already?

 

A married couple. That thought set Eiji’s heart and cheeks ablaze. Imagining a future together with Ash, with no guns, no gangs, no death… being together with his _husband,_ holding him, kissing him, _loving him_ without feeling this strange… it had to be wonderful.

 

From that day onwards, that became another ritual. Ash would kiss Eiji on the cheek every time he left, but Eiji didn’t reply because he didn’t feel… ready.

 

Until one day he replied and instead of letting Ash kissing his cheek, he hugged him, put himself on his tiptoes and asked a _can I…?_ that died at his throat when Ash kissed him on the lips, chaste, soft and sweet.

 

And like every little gesture that started spontaneously, if this were to become a ritual between them, Eiji wouldn’t mind in the slightest.

**Author's Note:**

> Two fics in less than 24 hours wow you sure will get tired of me
> 
> I felt really bad for writing all that angst yesterday and had to write something cute, and I'm proud of the result! I hope you guys have liked this and please, kudos and comments are much appreciated. I'm an insecure person and I really want to know if you enjoy what I do.
> 
> Hope you liked this <3 also i have a lot of fics to read since I've had a hectic week hehe don't worry because I'll do it soon and shower you all with love *^*
> 
> also I'm @weakeninghope in tumblr! hit me up if you want to scream about Banana Fish


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